Please Please Me
by caiteelove
Summary: Sirius briefly dates Marlene. James uses it as an excuse to talk to Lily.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling is the reason this exists. I own nothing.**  
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**Part One – No, Potter.**

"So. Sirius and McKinnon ay?"

Lily tore her eyes away from her book to look over at James. He had plonked himself down next to her on the couch by the fire and when she looked at him he nodded towards the corner where Sirius and Marlene were sitting, very close to each other.

"That's funny, I distinctly remember telling you not to interrupt me when I'm reading at least, hmm, five times in the past week alone, Potter."

"You know what else is funny? Sirius and McKinnon," James said, ignoring the clearly uninterested look in Lily's eyes. He was used to it.

"Hilarious, now would you please go away?" She deadpanned, but James seemed not to notice.

"They're an unlikely couple aren't they? Who could have picked they'd end up together? I certainly didn't. But you can't stop true love like that. It's just—"

"I give them one more day at the most," Lily interrupted bluntly.

"Wh … huh?" James faltered. "You don't believe two people can overcome their differences and fall in love?"

"Oh no, I definitely think that's possible, just not for Sirius and Marlene," Lily replied simply.

"But why not?" James demanded.

"Well, for one thing Marlene only agreed because she was curious to find out if Sirius's snogging was worth the hype. And something tells me Sirius is only dating her because she's the best-looking Gryffindor in our year. I think he just thought it was inevitable at some point."

James opened his mouth to argue, but realised Lily was right and shut it again.

"But you do believe two people can overcome their differences and fall in love," he said.

"No, Potter," Lily said with a sigh.

"No, you don't believe that—"

"No, I won't go out with you."

"But I wasn't going to—"

Lily raised her eyebrows at him.

"I hate when you're right, Evans," James muttered to himself, getting up and joining Remus and Peter in the corner.

Lily watched him with a satisfied smirk, before returning to her book.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **this ended up A LOT more Sirius/Remus shippy then I intended it to ... oh well.  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>J.K. Rowling is the reason this exists. I own nothing.**  
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**Part Two – Mutually Beneficial.**

"What do you think Sirius?"

Sirius had not been paying attention to the blonde sitting on his lap. He'd been staring across the room watching Remus play exploding snap with Peter. So when she asked him a direct question, he had no idea what she was referring to.

"Uh … go for it," he said quickly.

"You think I should just dye my hair pink?" Marlene asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Uh …" _How are you going to get out of this one Black?_

"Am I really that boring?" she continued but, much to Sirius's relief, she didn't look angry. In fact, she looked slightly amused.

"No, no, I've just got a lot on my mind," he answered truthfully.

"Sure, okay. Sirius, can I be blunt?"

Now Sirius's attention was, for the first time that night, completely focused on his girlfriend.

"Uh, okay," he said, unsure what to expect.

"We've been dating nearly a week, we've snogged twice and the entire school got to call us the best-looking couple in the castle, I don't think either of us is going to get much more out of this relationship."

"Are you saying you want to break up?" Sirius asked, trying to keep the relief out of his voice.

"Yes, yes I am. I mean, the snogging was nice and everything, but I'm not a slag Sirius. I'm not going to keep dating you just because it's mutually beneficial to both of our relationships."

Sirius stared at her for a long moment. He decided not to point out that she'd only agreed to go out with him in the first place because it was "mutually beneficial" and said instead;

"How's that 'making sure your good-looks don't go to your head' thing going anyway, McKinnon?"

"Yup, we're definitely breaking up," Marlene said, hopping off his lap and crossing the room to sit by Lily.

Sirius held back a laugh, watching her for a split second before his attentions returned to the other side of the room.

"Hey Moony!" he called after a moment. Remus looked up, the card in his hand hovering just above the pile. "I think I will go to the library with you to look for that book you wanted after all," he said. "That is, if you still wanted to."

Remus glanced at Marlene, then back to Sirius, before smiling.

"Sure, I'd like that," he said, handing his deck of cards to James before standing up.

No one noticed the two Marauders slip their hands into one another's as the climbed out of the portrait hole.


End file.
